Ponce Upon A Time: Sweet Potato-Stuffed Smoked Ponce

Long ago the French came to the bayous of Louisiana and brought with them a vast wealth of recipes. Over generations of influence, the tastes and flavors of most of those Cajun recipes have evolved. These classic Cajun recipes and the artisan skills that go into Louisiana’s culinary cultural uniqueness are fascinating to me. The linkage to French gastronomy is apparent in so many ways, and my boundless curiosity drives me to find those connections. In my latest discovery–smoked ponce–I am intrigued by how the Cajun recipe we eat today has stayed true to French Acadian tradition.

Smoked ponce stuffed with sweet potatoes served up family-style is an old-school Cajun recipe. (All photos credit: George Graham)

This smoked ponce dish transports me to a time and place when French cooks took food seriously and approached cooking skillfully. Long before the heyday of Julia Child hawking the mastery of French cuisine in America, before Bocuse and the culinary renaissance of nouvelle cuisine, before Escoffier and the five mother sauces, even before Brillat-Savarin, French Acadian cooks in South Louisiana kitchens prepared ponce. And even now, almost 300 years later, Smoked Ponce is a Cajun recipe classic that provokes delicious curiosity.

Many who live in my city of Lafayette have never eaten ponce, and I would guess that some have never even heard of it. Smoked ponce is a Cajun recipe that is rarely seen on a restaurant menu except in the rural towns far away from the metropolitan areas. Quite frankly, I’ve never seen it sold in mainstream supermarkets either. But, take a short drive north of Lafayette and you will discover the legions of Cajun and Creole gourmands that swear allegiance to this French connection of a dish.

Ponce is essentially a stuffed pig’s stomach. There are different Cajun recipe versions, but most rural butchers create a spicy pork and herb sausage stuffing and truss it up inside the stomach cavity of a pig. The dish is called chaudin in some parts of Acadiana, and the two names are interchangeable. Whatever you call it, Smoked Ponce is an artisan Cajun recipe that in the expert hands of a skilled Cajun butcher is delectable.

Stuffing an animal’s stomach is done in most every culture. In Scotland, you’d be dining on haggis (sheep’s stomach), in Latin America hog maw and in Germany saumagen, but it is the French that always seem to up the ante.

Smoked Ponce – this Cajun recipe features pork sausage and sweet potatoes stuffed into a pig’s stomach and smoked.

I first saw ponce some years ago at Poche’s Market north of Breaux Bridge, but I am now discovering it more and more in the rural groceries. You can find it easily in the small Louisiana towns of Scott (Best Stop), Sunset (Janise’s), Ville Platte (Teet’s) and Eunice (Eunice Superette). To me, smoked ponce is much like Cajun smoked sausage–pork and herbs stuffed into a pig’s intestine or casing. Intestine? Stomach? What’s the difference?

Keith Venable at Keeper’s smokehouse in Church Point, Louisiana.

Recently I met Keith and Cathy Venable, the hard-working and highly skilled owners of Keeper’s Specialty Meats located on the Church Point Highway just outside of that sleepy little town. Keith introduced me to his farm-to-table Cajun recipe for smoked ponce where he takes a well-cleaned stomach and stuffs it with a combination of ground pork, diced vegetables, herbs, spices, and sweet potatoes, then expertly ties it up and smokes it over hickory wood. He sells a ton of them to the local population that clearly knows how delicious this dish can be.

Rural Cajun families eat ponce like an average non-Cajun family would eat pot roast. Either smoked or unsmoked, the ponce is roasted or braised for a couple of hours while the juices release into a pork gravy. Usually served over rice, it is simple farmhouse fare. Ponce is a timeless Cajun recipe and remains a testament to the artisan craft of true Cajun culture.

For the ponce, prepare a smoker with hickory wood and bring to 175ºF by following the equipment directions.

Place the pig’s stomach in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water. In a large bowl, mix the water and salt. Submerge the stomach in the saltwater solution and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Remove and inspect the stomach to make sure that it is clean, being careful not to tear the delicate tissue. Place on paper towels and let dry. Refrigerate until ready to stuff.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, celery, and bell pepper and cook until the onions become translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for 1 minute more. Remove the skillet from the heat and pour the contents into a large mixing bowl. Add the sweet potatoes and pork and season with Cajun seasoning and pepper. Combine making sure the ingredients are distributed evenly.

Move the pig’s stomach to a large cutting board and open it up. Using your hands, gently stuff the meat mixture inside the stomach. Add just enough filling so that the lining of the stomach can come together and seal. Using butchers twine, sew the stomach closed. (Note: Alternatively, some use toothpicks to close the stomach.)

Place the stuffed ponce on a rack in the smoker. Smoke for 4 hours at 175ºF. Once smoked, remove the ponce.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

In a heavy cast iron pot with a tight-fitting lid, add the smoked ponce. Place the carrots, onions, and celery in the pot and add enough chicken stock to come halfway up the side of the stuffed ponce. Add 2 tablespoons of dark roux. Cover the pot and place in the oven for 2 hours. Once the ponce has finished roasting, remove it to a platter and keep warm.

Pour the gravy and vegetables through a strainer and into a saucepan. Over high heat, bring the stock to a simmer and skim off any fat or particles. Let reduce on a simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep warm.

For serving, move the stuffed ponce to a cutting board and slice into ½-inch-thick slices. Place on a platter family-style and serve with white rice and plenty of gravy on the side.

Notes

Rather than a supermarket, buy your pig’s stomach from a butcher who specializes in pork products since freshness is key. Ponce is delicious roasted in the oven without smoking; just follow the recipe instructions and eliminate the smoking step. Jarred roux is acceptable; buy Rox's Roux here.

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Comments

in Vernon Parish, we didn’t call the event a boucherie, but it was the same. The family and neighbors made it almost a festival. I was usually the one designated to shoot the hogs with a .22 short above the ear. It was immediately hung using a piggin stick by its hind legs. Its throat was cut and my grandmother collected the blood in a dishpan. She made blood pudding with it. The hog was gutted and the intestines were slung then soaked in a tub of salt water. The hog was laid out on a tarp and scraped using hot water and spoons. Getting the water right was an art. We ate the heart, tongue, lights and kidneys while they were still fresh. The men cut up the hog in normal parts and prepared the hams and middlins for curing, which involved a salt/sugar mixture and packed in a wooden box full of fresh pine needles and placed in the smokehouse.(later to be smoked over pecan wood). The women trimmed most of the fat and cooked it in a cast iron pot. The kids got sick eating cracklins. Later during the winter, the fat would be purified for lard and soap. One could write a book just on “boucheries”. I’m fortunate to have experienced this.

I just heard about ponce a couple of weeks ago from a vendor who lives in Carencro. I grew up and still live in New Orleans. I’ve made 3 phone calls today trying to find ponce/pounce/panse/chaudin to no avail.
George-if you know of a place in NOLA that might carry this, do tell! Otherwise, a Harley roadtrip is in my near future!
I love your website/recipes. I have cooked several and they’ve become some of our favorites. Thanks for what you do.

Hey Rene’ – Ponce is a specialty of the Acadiana area and is seen exclusively in small rural markets (especially North of I-10) and specialty meat markets. I know of no markets in New Orleans that carries it. Go to my Faces and Places page and scroll through the meat markets and you’ll seen tons of locations selling ponce/chaudin. Here’s a few: Poche’s near Breaux Bridge, Janice’s in Sunset, Keeper’s in Church Point, Teet’s in Ville Platte, Superette in Eunice, T-Boy’s in Mamou, and others. I suggest making a road trip and call ahead to make sure they have what you are looking for. As for the Harley, I hope they make an ice chest that you can tow behind it! All the best.

Grew up with Cajun ponce. Being from Mamou and living in VA for 40 years, it is still a dear memory. I recently ordered a green ponce from Teet’s and am anxious to cook it this Christmas for my family.

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About George Graham

I’ve lived in South Louisiana for all my life. My passion is the rich culinary heritage of Cajun and Creole cooking, and in the pages of Acadiana Table, my mission is to preserve and promote our culture by bringing you the stories and recipes that make it so unique. Read More…